It wouldn’t be Valentine’s Day without yummy treats, especially when they’re heart-shaped! I saw this recipe that Joy the Baker posted earlier this week and knew I had to give it a try. You just can’t go wrong when you combine lemon, raspberry and pie crust!

These were so much fun to make! I made the crust the night before and refrigerated it overnight.

To make the crust (I did this the night before and refrigerated overnight):
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar and salt. Add cold, cubed butter and, using your fingers, work the butter into the flour mixture. Quickly break the butter down into the flour mixture. Some butter pieces will be the size of oat flakes; some will be the size of peas. Create a well in the mixture and pour in the cold buttermilk. Use a fork to bring the dough together and moisten all of the flour bits. On a lightly floured work surface, dump out the moist dough mixture. Divide the dough in half and gently knead into two disks. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour (or overnight).

To make the filling:
In a medium bowl, gently stir together thawed and drained raspberries, sugar, cornstarch, lemon zest, lemon juice, spices, and salt. Stir until just combined.

In a small bowl, lightly beat the egg and set aside. In another small bowl place about 1/3 cup of turbinado sugar to sprinkle on the pies before baking.

To roll out the pie crust and make the hearts:
On a well-floured surface, roll one of the disks out to a 1/8″-thickness. Use a 3-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut about 10 to 12 hearts out of the rolled crust. Place the hearts on a plate or cookie sheet and place in the refrigerator while you roll out and cut heart shapes from of the second pie crust disk.

After rolling and cutting all of the hearts, you should have 28 to 32 hearts (I got exactly 32 hearts). Brush half (14 to 16) of the hearts lightly with the beaten egg. Place about 1 heaping teaspoon of raspberry filling in the center of each heart. Get as much fruit and go easy on the juice.

Lightly stretch the remaining hearts with your fingers. Place the slightly stretched hearts over the fruit-studded hearts and press the ends/edges together with your fingers. A bit of raspberry juice might seep out of the sides, but don’t worry, that’s ok! Use a fork to score/seal the edges and then use a small knife to create a few small vent holes on the top heart.

Lightly brush the the tops of each heart pairing with beaten egg and sprinkle with turbinado sugar. Allow them to chill in the refrigerator while the oven preheats. Place oven racks in the center and upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Place prepared hearts on a parchment lined baking sheet about 1-inch apart. Bake for about 12 minutes, or until golden brown and bubbling.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the pan for 10 minutes before placing on a wire rack to cool completely.